Lesson 3
Scarcity: Unlimited Wants, Limited Resources

Objectives:
1) recognize and explain the economic concept of scarcity
2) explain how scarcity forces people, businesses, and the government to make choices

Activities:
1)Intro-Warm Up-
a)Look up & Write definition of scarcity
b)list all the things you want for your birthday/Valentine’s Day (last week)
-Some Students will share their responses. Students will explain why they cannot have all the games, clothes, and sporting equipment that they want, stated in terms of scarcity of resources necessary to buy or produce those items.

2) Wedding Banquet Activity (see attached handout)- students will first complete the activity alone; then work with a partner as though they were parents of the bride/groom.

3)Debrief/Evaluate activity. What did you think of the activity? How was that activity difficult for you and your partner? How does scarcity force people to make choices? How does scarcity forces businesses, government to make choices?

4)Closing Activity/ Homework Questions:
Why must we all make economic choices? Why does scarcity always exists?
-You are part of a scout troop that has volunteered to assist a local nursing home on Saturday morning. The nursing home has a list of 30 possible projects, all of which it would like completed. Explain why all 30 projects cannot be completed on a Saturday morning.
-Discuss the differences between the types of scarcity faced by people who are rich and by those who are poor.
-Students will list all the services they think the government should provide ideally for the people in their community and explain why all of these services cannot be provided. What would have to be done to acquire them?
-Given the following problem, students will decide which project the city should undertake and state the reasons for that choice.
A city needs new street lights in one neighborhood, but it also needs two daycare centers in opposite sections of town. Each project will cost $50,000.00, but the city has only enough money to pay for one of the projects. Fifty houses will benefit from the street lights. One hundred families will use the daycare centers. Which project should the city choose? Why?

Evaluation:
1)Activity observations, work completed
2)Homework